Space at the Con : Conversations About Representation in Popular Culture at Comic Conventions
Women and marginalized groups struggle to enter the geek culture often because they do not fit the stereotype and are not seen in the media . This is unfortunate for several reasons , not the least of them that girls want to be geeks . Currie , Kelly , and Pomerantz attempted to better understand the experiences of girls in secondary school . What they learned was that girls felt limited in their expression of themselves in two ways : pressure from peers to not stand out and dominance of male narratives and experiences . Surprisingly , several girls expressed a desire to be seen as a geek in high school�it was a label they embraced . For young women , to be labeled a “ geek ” was positive , particularly in comparison to the other labels girls are often given such as “ slut ” or “ girlie girl .” Even more sadly , the labels that young women aim to escape by joining the geek community are not left behind in schoolyard . As Maggs described it , “ Women are ostracized from online gaming , called out as fake , accused of being desperate for attention , harassed while cosplaying , and , worst of all , forced into silence ” ( 11 ). This phenomenon , known as gatekeeping or geek-keeping , is not unique to women , though .
For people of color , the geek community can feel just as unwelcoming . Brandon Jackson describes his experience as a “ blerd ” ( black nerd ) in the 1990s : “ They used to call me Urkel�and not in an endearing way either .” The stereotype of geeks as white is often not surprising , considering superheroes were around for just under three decades before a black superhero�Black Panther�was created by Marvel , and can lead to assumptions that there is a certain way to be a geek . Traditional geeks can engage in gatekeeping , leading to a hostile space for black geeks ( Valenzuela ).
In response to this gatekeeping , groups have begun organizing to create their own spaces . From Black Girl Nerds to the Mary Sue to Gay Nerds , marginalized groups are creat-
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